1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a circular plate-like guard removably mountable on the outer side of a support wheel of heavy construction equipment with the circular plate disposed in concentric relation with the wheel, spaced only slightly outward of the outer side of the wheel and with the diameter of the plate being only slightly less than the diameter of the associated pneumatic tire when inflated. The plate protects the outer side wall of the tire against injury from sharp ground objects such as rocks and scrap metal and also protects the tire outer side wall from injury by contact with curbing, etc.
2. Description of Related Art
Various different forms of tire guards and other similar structures heretofore have been provided such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,178,592, 2,209,967, 2,488,864, 4,235,271 and 4,790,362. However, these previously known devices are either semipermanently mounted from an associated wheel, mounted to the associated wheel through the use of one of the tire bead retaining flanges thereof or mounted from an associated wheel by structure requiring each circular plate-like guard to be specifically manufactured for support from a particular wheel. In addition, most previously known forms of tire guard plates are manufactured for use in conjunction with only a single size wheel.